Ripoff Agents Get An Enemy

May 10, 1992|By Don Pierson.

Another radical idea has been spawned at the University of Wisconsin, that hotbed of far-out thought. Ed Garvey, who lectures at the law school, has suggested agents are usually unnecessary and sometimes evil in representing young athletes about to become millionaires.

Troy Vincent, a student at Wisconsin, listened. Instead of hiring a conventional agent to negotiate his contract as a first-round draft choice in the NFL, Vincent and his godparents are doing the negotiating themselves with the help of Garvey and a hometown attorney from New Jersey.

The Miami Dolphins made Vincent the seventh pick in the first round. After the Dolphins give him an offer, Vincent will decide whether it fits properly into the ``slotting`` procedure that dictates first-round prices and serves as an unwritten wage scale.

The top two picks in the round, Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt, already have been signed by the Indianapolis Colts for contracts of more than $2 million a year. The increases over last year`s 1-2 picks is between 34 and 40 percent depending on whether the team or the agent is reporting the numbers. A more conventional increase is 15 percent over last year`s numbers, but whatever the increase, the slotting usually dictates the seventh player gets less than the sixth and more than the eighth.

For negotiating such contracts, some conventional agents get around 5 percent of the total contract. For example, if a player signs an $8 million contract over four years, with only the $4 million signing bonus guaranteed, an agent could take his 5 percent off the $8 million. That`s $400,000. That`s highway robbery, according to Garvey.

``I will get a kid the best lawyer in Chicago to work fulltime for a player for that kind of money,`` Garvey said.

Garvey, former executive director of the NFL Players Association, has volunteered his own services ``night and day, cleaning his house, taking care of his kids, anything.``

Garvey`s point is that attorneys should charge a client an hourly wage for such services as reviewing contracts. To indoctrinate attorneys on how to represent athletes more fairly, Garvey has set up a Sports Law Institute for June 10-13 at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield.

``Our goal is to train attorneys and other professionals-whose living is not dependent on representing athletes-to represent athletes ethically and at a fair price,`` Garvey said.

Among the speakers are Alan Page, Jim Finks, Junior Bridgeman, John Mackey, Irvin Mandel and Frank Remington, Wisconsin law professor and former chairman of the NCAA infractions committee.

Cynics wonder whether attorneys won`t look at the agent business and decide to get into it for the going percentage that is unchallenged by naive young athletes. A survey this year by former NFL player Ralph Cindrich, now a sports attorney, revealed 76 percent of the top prospects polled in this draft class were unaware they would have to pay $300,000 to $350,000 in taxes on $1 million.

Vincent apparently got more out of his education at Wisconsin than the stereotypical athlete gets. When Commissioner Paul Tagliabue congratulated him in New York after he was drafted, Vincent surprised Tagliabue by mentioning he was happy to be going to the Dolphins because Florida has no personal income tax.

Name drafts: The Eagles took Siran Stacy, Ephesians Bartley and Pumpy Tudors. Believe it or not, Stacy got his name after his mother watched a commercial for Saran Wrap.

The Falcons are owned by Rankin Smith and run by Rankin Smith Jr. The corporate name of the franchise is The Five Smiths. In the first round, the Falcons drafted Tony Smith. In the second round, they drafted Chuck Smith. In the fourth round, they drafted Frankie Smith.

Boomer`s ticked: Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason wasn`t impressed with the Bengals` draft starting with quarterback David Klingler, safety Darryl Williams and receiver Carl Pickens. The Bengals had the 28th defense in the league last season, and Esiason thought they would draft more beef up front instead of admitting they need to rebuild for the future.

``Can David rush the passer?`` Esiason asked.

The Bengals also drafted Central State defensive lineman Roosevelt Nix and a semipro offensive lineman who didn`t attend college named Lance Olberding. The 6-6, 305-pound Olberding worked as a bouncer. The 6-6, 300-pound Nix was a bodyguard for music groups.

Meanwhile, three veterans on the offensive line are unsigned-tackle Joe Walter, center-guard Bruce Kozerski and tight end Rodney Holman.

``They`re calling some of these guys projects,`` Esiason said. ``I don`t want to hear that. None of the veterans want that. You have your right tackle, your smartest guy on the line and a Pro Bowl tight end out of there. Now we have bodyguards and bouncers.``

Super crunch: Erick Anderson of Michigan and Glenbrook South is the third Butkus Award winner the Kansas City Chiefs have drafted in the last four years after Derrick Thomas in 1989 and Percy Snow in 1990. The Butkus Award goes to the nation`s top linebacker.

Bills bluff: Buffalo General Manager Bill Polian, defending a draft that seemed to net no starters for the Super Bowl runner-up Bills: ``If you have to start a rookie, you`ve either had a disaster take place that`s decimated your team or you`re not good enough.``